From June 19 – October 11, a special exhibition on Charles Darwin, the most influential evolutionist in human history, will be held at the National Museum of Natural Science in Taichung (http://www.nmns.edu.tw/ch/exhibit/DarwinNOW/2-exhibit.htm). The exhibition Darwin celebrates Darwin’s ideas and their impact for his 200th birthday in 2009 and consists of 5 major themes: The world before Darwin, Early life of Darwin, Voyage of the Beagle, Formation of evolution theory, and Today’s evolution theory. It is organized by the American Museum of Natural History, New York, in collaboration with other museums; and has toured many countries such as the United States, Canada, Britain, Japan, New Zealand, and Australia.

The National Center for Traditional Art in Yi-Lan County is hosting an exhibition titled “Profession and belief – Patron deities in Taiwan” which runs from May 1 to August 23, 2009 (http://www.ncfta.gov.tw/ncfta_eh/e03/e030100.aspx). Patron deities are guardian deities worshipped by members of a profession to safeguard their personal interests or those of their peers. These deities, known as “the founders,” are usually associated with the characteristics of their corresponding trades. The belief in patron deities not only unites the members of a profession but also bestows divine support to further the prosperity and development of a trade.

The Global Biodiversity Information Facility announced on May 15 that Dr. Andy Jarvis is the winner of the €30,000 Ebbe Nielsen Prize for 2009 (http://www.gbif.org/News/NEWS1242375828). The GBIF Science Committee reviewed the submissions against the criteria of "combining biosystematics and biodiversity informatics research in an exciting and novel way" and was impressed by Dr. Jarvis’ innovative research applications. Dr. Jarvis’ expertise is in environmental modeling, geographic information science and tropical ecology. He is the author of major datasets related to global climate, topography and water resources, and is the co-author of the freely available GIS mapping software called DIVA-GIS.

Starting in 2009, Juming Museum will organize a series of sculpture exhibitions in which a different material is highlighted each year. The theme of the first exhibition is “Stainless Steel.” The stainless steel sculptures of 7 artists, His-te Sung, Kuan-ying Wu, Chao-tsai Chiu, Tsan-hsing Kao, Pei-ying Huang, Yu-chih Huang and Po-chun Liu, are displayed from March 28 through June 21, 2009 (http://www.juming.org.tw/opencms/juming_en/hotNews/exhibition/exhibition_0026.html). The exhibition intends to present the variety of material language, mechanical techniques and ways of construction for stainless steel sculptures.

A thematic exhibition on contemporary artworks is running from April 18 to July 12, 2009 at Taipei Fine Arts Museum. The exhibition, Arcadie – Dans les Collections du Centre Pompidou (http://www.tfam.museum/03_Exhibitions/Default.aspx), is the fruit of collaboration between the Museum and the Pompidou Centre in Paris. The 83 pieces presented include works by Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Georges Braque, Pierre Bonnard, Marc Chagall, Jean Dubuffet, Paul Klee and Luis Bunuel.